I apologise in advance as this is going to get 'ranty' ....
I am the mother of a pre-teen, she is at that 'lovely' age where I know nothing and the TV shows, her peers and (if I'm lucky) her Sister knows more than I do .........
So, what's got the bee in my bonnet buzzing .......... well, let me explain - Swearing.......
First on my rant list is FaceBook and society's acceptance of the use of the F and C swear words being used as commonly as Hi and Howdy! - ok I'm not a prude, I can and do swear like a trooper but not in front of my kids - never have and probably never will... Yes I know they will hear it and pick it up from their friends, but when I was that age the C word in particular wasn't used that much and most certainly not by a woman!
The second on my rant list is a bit more personal I guess - now my daughter as I've mentioned is at the impressionable age where she's becoming aware of her body and the media's perception of the perfect body, my daughter (bless her) is not a big girl - but she comes from big stock, so I preempted trouble down the road and purchased a few books geared towards pre-teens and I have to be honest and say that the books were really good - they explained things in a way that she really 'got'! So, imagine my surprise and downright disgust when I found that my daughter had 'friended' the author on FB, had registered to the authors blog and twitter only to find more f'ing and jeffing then a sailor!
Again, each to their own and if that's the kind of language the author uses then so be it - but come on - don't write books full of hints, tips and advice on how to make a young girl feel good about herself and then use the most despicable language where said girl can read them - honestly!!!
I think we, as a society, are now so 'numb' from the shock tactics employed by the media that we think nothing of seeing the most hideous of pictures and hearing the most horrendous language - I listen to the teenagers that live around me - and if I took the swear words out then the most they say is Hey, You, Off. An episode of the Simpson I watched recently had the word Crap in it - is this really the way we want our children to talk ???
English is the most eloquent language, there are words to describe most things in a way that anyone can understand, do we really have to resort to everything and everyone being an F'ing C .... ???
Having a pre teen myself I can totally relate to the swearing in the media issue. Now I don't think of myself as a prude by any stretch of the imagination but it does all seem to have gotten out of hand. The F word especially now seems to be part of the acceptable everyday language, which I find extremely sad. The author you mention, well I have no words really, you cannot set yourself up as a pre teen author then advocate foul language, there is something VERY wrong with that situation. I fear we are a minority, but I shall fight to keep the F word out of everyday language with every fibre of my being!! Tansy x
ReplyDeleteYou would think someone writing books for girls would be a bit better of an example on facebook. Still, I know you, and know you are a great mom so she's very lucky to have you. I think the strongest example will come from you :))))) As a Mom myself I can totally understand the rant. Much Love to you :))))
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